Checking in From the Cutting Edge: Only Six Percent Use Geolocation Apps

Six percent of U.S. online adults use geolocation apps, up from 4 percent last year, according to new research from Forrester.

It’s not a big surprise that location-based services aren’t terrifically mainstream — Foursquare says it has 15 million registered users worldwide, and one-time competitor Gowalla is now fully out of the market through a deal to send some of its staff to Facebook.

That said, awareness of geolocation apps is on the rise. Thirty percent of those surveyed by Forrester said they know what geolocation applications are, versus 16 percent last year.

And geolocation app usage is getting ever so slightly more gender-balanced. Now, 37 percent of users are women, up from 22 percent in 2010.

Geolocation app users tend to be post-college adults. Forty-three percent are between the ages of 23 to 31.

Forrester’s point in all this is to look at the bright side: Money. Young, male and overshare-y is a good marketing demographic.

P.S. If you add up the pie slices above, it makes it look like 5 percent of those surveyed use geolocation apps. However, Forrester said the total number is 6 percent with rounding.

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